Cultivator



U. WEDGE. cULTlvAToR.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 22| i918.

Patented sept. 30, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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U.,W,EDGE. CULTIVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22,'1918.

l ,3 l 7, 53 3 Patented Sept. 30, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

V157' A15 I 2O structed inaccordance ywith my invention;

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v UTLEYWEDGE, OF VAEDE/10112141, PENNSYLVAIA.

cULTIvAtroga. v

To all whom if may concern.'

Beit known that 1, UTLEY VEDGE, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Cultivators, of which the following is a specification.

vhereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in Vwhich-- Figure 1 is a side view of a cultivator con- F ig. 2 is an inverted l'plan ,View of the same;

. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig.1 but illustrating certain modified features of construction, and

Fig. tisan inverted sectionalplan view of part of such machine `on. the line 1-41, Fig. 3.

The conventional types of cultivators now in use arethose which are equipped either with fixed teeth 0r blades which tear their way throughthe soil, or with rotatable disks which not only tear through the soil but are rotated by frictional contact therewith. y

My invention consists broadly in providing a cultivator with a pair -of rotatable shafts from which project teeth for blades, and in the provision of means whereby these shaftsl may be rotated in opposite directions so that as the cultivator travels forwardly the-teeth or blades projecting from oneshaft will cut through the earth rearwardly and the teeth or blades projecting from the other shaft will cut through the earth forwardly thereby securing a double cultivation of the soil, the two cultivations being in opposite directions. Such double cultivation is naturally more efficient than a single cultivation and insures the breaking up of any clods or lumps of soil which may be en-k countered.

The action of the rearwardly cutting teeth or blades tends to draw the cultivator ahead while the action of the forwardly cutting teeth er blades tends to draw the cuitivator wardly.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented Sept. S, i919. Application filed January22, 1918. Serial 170.213,194.

rearwardly. lfY thespeed of rotation of the two blade carrying shafts were equal the tractive efforts of the two sets of blades: would neutralizev one another.' lf, however, the shaft carrying the rearwardly. cutting blades rotates at a kgreater speed than the ,other shaft the result will be a constant .tendency of the cultivator to travel ahead with the result thatless tractive effort will be necessary for the 'draft of the c ultiv'ator. A further feature of my invention comprises the provision of rmeans whereby the'shaft carrying the rearwardly cutting' blades is caused to rotate faster than the other shaft. A

Referriiigin the first instance toA Figs. 1 and 2, my improved cultivator is shown'as provided witha frame or platform 1, from Ywhichl depend hangers for 'various transverse shafts. Centrallydisposed and mounted 1n hangersr2 is la' transverseshaft 3, the opposite ends of wliichare Aequipped vwith traction wheels 5. At'the forwardend of jare also mounted and from which likewise project a plurality of lsets of cultivating blades 11 which are adapted to digvforf Attached to each traction wheel is van internal annularrack 12 withwhich mesh spur p1nions`13 and 1,4. The pinions 13 are secured to the outerends 'of a transverse shaft a corresponding transverse shaft 17 Amounted in depending` hangers 18.

Loosely mounted upon the shaft 15 but "engageable therewith through the medium 0f clutches 19 are a pair of sprocket wheels '20 which are connected, by means of sprocket chains 21, with corresponding sprocketA l wheels 22 mounted upon the blade-carrying v Y Y' respective shafts, the rotation ofthe traction wheels 5 is transmitted, through the' medium of the. interposed gearing, toY the .bladefcarrying shafts 7 Vand 10, causing the shaft 7 to rotate "counter-clockwise so that the blades 8 projectingtherefrom will dig backwardly, and causing the shaftl 10 to .rotate clockwiseV so that the blades 11 will digforwardly.

' Thesize. and relation of the various elements l.of the transmission gearing is 'such that the shaft 7 will rotate at a faster speed than-theV shaft .10, withY` the result thatV the forward-draft Ytendency exerted f by teethy 8 will more than overcome the rearward-draft Y tendencyfexerted by the teeth 11 so that less -cultivator than if. the. speed the twoshafts were equal.

tractive effort will be necessary to haul the of rotation of l The machine shown 1n Figs.i 1 and2 is Y `ten-ded to be drawn forwardly by a team of horses, orb-y amechanical tractor ahead of `it, but in Figs.y 3 anda I have illustrated a Vv'rnachinein'which power is supplied to the shaft so as to rotate the tractionwheels- 5 and thereby overcomethe necessity of providing such draft means. Depending from the frame or platform 1 are a npair of hangers 30 in whic-his mounted a longitudinal power Ishaft B1 having its forward end equippedwith a exiblejoint 82 adapted to engage-the rear, end of a power shaft of an Y engineinadvance of thecultivator, or the.. powerv may bev derived from an engine mounted upon the platform 1. At the lrear end v of .theshaft Slis mounted a bevel gear i -32 intermeshing with av bevel gear 3B secured to a transverseV shaft-34 mounted in 'the depending bearings 18.,. Each4 end of this shaft Sais provided'withaV pinion 35 vwhich engagestheinternal annular rack 12, vso as-togdrive the traction wheels 5..

lThe eultivator is preferably provided, at

the extreme rear, with a wheel 36 which furnishes an additional point of support, and which, if mounted, -as'shown, in a yoke' -formed at the bottom Vof a vertical post 37 A 1 projecting through the platform, may be used as a guide wheel, to steer the cultivator. In this case, the upper part of the post 37 would be provided with a hand wheel, tiller, or other suitable device to enable it to `bev readily controlled. l Y 1 Y While I have illustrated.a cultivator hav- Ving two blade-carryin shafts, one ahead of and one in the rear of the traction wheels, I

do not limit myself to this particular constructlon, as any desired number of blade-y carrying shafts may be employed and they spect to the traction shaft, so long as some blades dig rearwardly and some dig for` wheels and conveying it from the latterto the blade-carryingshafts, power may be 'apypliedto the latter shaftsrif desired, and the traction V-wheels may be disconnected therefrom.

yI claim: Y A

. 1. The combination, ina cultivatonfof a pai-r of shafts one having rearwardly cutting bladesv andthe other having forwardly f vmay be disposed inany desiredway with ren cutting blades, and 'means forrotatin'g said --1 shafts one in one direction and the other in the opposite direction, said means `being such that the shaft having the rearwardly cutting blades thereon will bef'rotated at a higher rate of speed than the other.

Y 2. The combinatlomin a cultivator, of a 7 pair of shafts, one having rearwardly cutting blades, and the other having forwardly cutting blades, and means whereby a traction wheel-of the cultivator is caused to rotate onef of said lshafts in one direction and the other4 in .the opposite directionandV at va higher speed. s

name to this specification. f

(topics,A of this patentjmay be obtained forrVVeceIts eah by addressing the icommlssionerof mums: I g Y VrVVashingtorll, De c3 .I I l i y i In testimony whereof I have signed my f 

